The World's Cruelty
by Lawlipop9991
Summary: I would wait for someone special, someone who stole my breath away the moment I first saw them. Until then, my heart shall stay under lock and key, not to be opened. [There are hints of other fandoms in here, see if you can spot them.] Polite critiques are welcomed! Please, do not hesitate to leave a review. I'd very much like feedback on how I'm doing.
1. The Beginning

A/N) First chapter of my first story! This the fourth story in the Danny Phantom x Death Note category! I'm quite certain there had once been a fifth one somewhere along the line, but it was removed! I was so very sad when I couldn't find it again. I'm going to have to start printing peoples' fics out and storing them in files so I can read them later, in case they're ever taken down. I'm currently writing down some timelines to go by so I don't miss any thing. Seeing as I'm mainly going along the Death Note plotline, I want to make sure nothing gets screwed up.

Disclaimer! ~ I don't own Danny Phantom or Death Note or any other book, cartoon, manga/anime and/or game that I make references to. I know that this may be short, but I'm working on making them longer.

* * *

The world is cruel.

This is a lesson I learned at a young age, at the age of five. I had been introduced to my first class, Kindergarten. I had stood up in the front of the class, wrote my name on the large chalkboard like my new teacher had told me to and stated my likes, dislikes and hobbies. The other kids had stared at me weirdly, as if I had come from outer space. I don't think they understood just what I was talking about. I had been talking about my parents' inventions, astronomy, and geometry, things I later found out weren't to be introduced until, at earliest, middle school. The teacher had gaped at me, dumb-founded and wide-eyed.

From then on to eighth grade, I was known as the "genius, weird kid" to the older kids, and "freaky weirdo" to my classmates. The teacher was very wary of me, it had been very obvious she didn't want to be anywhere near me. Anytime I approached her, she'd give me a look of annoyance, rudely ask what I wanted, and, after answering my questions sarcastically, send me away with a scowl on her face. This would go on until I hardened my heart. The last straw that encased my tender heart in ice, was the betrayal of my so-called friends, Samantha and Thomas. Though, they hated being called those names, preferring to be called Sam and Tucker instead.

They had left me at the first opportunity they got. Tucker had established himself as the best hacker in school and Sam had joined the A-listers without a single ounce of hesitation. They left me in the dust without as much as a goodbye. Then, to add insult to injury, they became my tormentors. Or, rather, they became my main torturers. Every day, it was the same thing. Get up, choke down breakfast, go to school, get harassed, go home, eat dinner, barf up said dinner, shower and go to bed. Of course this is repeated day after day. It never seemed to end, at all. A true never-ending cycle of depression.

I had taken to skipping school just to get away from it all. It wasn't as if I couldn't get books from the public library. Which was where I had spent most of my time. A kind woman, named Mrs. Dodds, worked there. She never seemed to mind my presence, in fact, it was if she liked having me there more than anyone else. She always greeted me with a semi-warm smirk when I came in, as if there was something she knew that I didn't. This was a welcome relief amongst all the people who wouldn't even notice if I was gone in the first place. The teachers wouldn't do anything, they didn't care. If you weren't the star of a sport or some other extracurricular, you were viewed as a lesser being. I would report the neglect, however, the councilors and principal weren't any better. I didn't need any of them though, as long as I had my books and my sister, Jazz, I was fine.

Things progressively got worse through my high school years. Jazz had been diagnosed with cancer her senior year, my sophomore year, and instead of going to a high-end school on a full scholarship like she had planned, she lost all of her beautiful, long auburn hair and had to sit in an uncomfortable hospital bed all day, every day. She died right after my graduation, not even a day after I received my high school diploma. The certificate I got upon her request. I had promised I would make her proud, I'd graduate as a valedictorian. I did, a year early. It was as if she was clinging to her life only to see me graduate.

My parents, Madeline and Jackson Fenton, two eccentric inventors, secluded themselves even more after Jazz's death. They had never paid any attention to me before, and I hadn't expected them to then, especially with the fact I was a child from an affair my mother had with another man. Jackson wasn't my father, no, a well-off man who lived in Los Angeles, California working under a recording studio was my father. The only pieces of information about him in the letters he sent were where he lived and where he worked, even those had been vague though. Figures, even if I did try looking for him it'd take quite a while.

I wasn't going to waste my time searching for a man who couldn't have bothered to check on his kid even once. I was unwanted, that much was clear. I had promised Jazz I wouldn't throw away my life though. I'd continue fighting the monsters, the ghosts, which plagued Amity when I finished college, just as I had since I got these damned powers. I'd go to that college in Japan that she had debated going to once she was done with high school. I think it was called To-Oh, maybe, I would have to check again on just what its name was. Then, once I was done there, I'd go somewhere else in the United States, New York perhaps?

I wanted to hate them, everything, and everyone. With the exception to Jazz and Mrs. Dodds, the kind, mysterious librarian, everybody had forsaken me, left me alone to forever be ignored. I couldn't though, holding grudges for so many people was too exhausting and a waste of time. Not to mention it caused such painful headaches.

No, I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of breaking me. I'd stand tall for as long as I needed to. I would keep people at a safe distance, to keep both me and them safe. It would take quite a lot for any outside parties to get in my good graces. I wouldn't be giving out my affections so loosely like I once had. No, I would wait for someone special, someone who took my breath away the moment I first saw them.

* * *

Who can guess where the references are from? I fitted some things in, in hopes for foreshadowing just a little bit. Anyway, I hope I did well with this first chapter. Stay tuned! I shall work extra hard to get the next chapter written down, typed out and uploaded in the next few days, before Christmas break ends!


	2. New Family and Investigating

A/N) Second chapter is done! Hope you enjoy it! I particularly had a hard time debating on whether I should include OC's or not. However, plot advancement required them.

Disclaimer!~ I do not own Danny Phantom or Death Note or any other cartoons, books, and/or anime/manga referenced in this story! I only own the plot I have created!

* * *

Coming to Japan had to be the best decision I've ever made. Sure I had some problems with the language barrier at first, but with the help of a kind, middle-aged woman, named Yuki Kannou, I was able to understand what was being said with little difficulty. I currently work for said kind woman in my spare time. In payment for teaching me Japanese and letting me stay with her and her daughter, Aiko, I work for her in her bakery. It was torture that was made worse thanks to my sensitive nose, smelling all the delicious sweets and not being able to taste them.

Yuki is a widow, her husband having died half a year before I came to Japan. She had been having problems paying her house payment due to her husband's, Rei's, unexpected death. When we found out about each other's problems, me not having a place to stay and Yuki not being able to keep up with payments, we decided to kill two birds with one stone. I rather don't mind Yuki, and I swear Aiko is truly an angel in human form. Yuki works while I go about my classes and I can watch Aiko, and study while working as a cashier. Yuki's bakery earned quite a bit of popularity with me and Aiko there. Though I'm certain that it's mostly thanks to Aiko, the girls that come by must be giggling over her cuteness. I had introduced the idea of Aiko helping us by bringing people their orders to Yuki. She said she'd experiment with the idea.

A week after I asked Yuki about Aiko helping us in the bakery, Aiko was brought in and introduced to the appliances and told where she could and couldn't go. When she asked why she couldn't go in some spaces, like the freezer, I told her that she could possibly get hurt, and that would make me and Yuki very sad. I explained this to her because I didn't want to traumatize her by saying there were monsters in those areas. After making her promise that she wouldn't go into any of the off-limits spaces, we showed her the many different types of pastries we can make and told her what she would be doing. By the time customers started to arrive, Aiko had been dressed in a miniature version of her mother's work uniform. I will admit that she was very adorable, with her turquoise blouse embroidered with little white and purple circular candies on a small pocket on her left side that carried tiny mints and a white skirt that went to her knees complete with the bakery logo, "Sweetie Bell," stitched into it on the right hip.

Aiko helping us had been a good idea. She greeted people at the door and brought their orders to them when Yuki or I finished ringing them up. Aiko loved it, from the many boisterous people to all of the varying scents, as she told me later. Yuki decided that Aiko was welcome to help any time she wished to, since things went so well. The bonus to having Aiko helping us was the lack of struggle she gave against having a nap. Aiko may have loved helping at the bakery, but, by the end of the day, she was exhausted. The more sleep she got, the more Yuki and I got to rest. All in all, it was a major bonus indeed.

Though, on the topic of "resting," it seems as if crime has been hibernating lately, or rather, holding its breath. Just the other day there was another news bulletin about another score of prison inmates dying of heart attacks, and according to the prison guards, they had been perfectly fine the minute before. With all these deaths of criminals from all over the world, all of them being caused by heart attacks, I have no doubt that representatives from all of those countries are going to come together soon. They'll most likely hold an ICPO meeting, with all those people coming at the same time. I also doubt that this series of deaths hasn't garnered the interest of at least one of the world's best detectives, L, Eraldo Coil, or Deneuve, if not all of them.

I've been doing a bit of my own investigating, gathering information, charting the numbers of deaths by country, as well as a bit of snooping. I have concluded that the United States has had the most deaths amongst criminals so far. Finding this information was quite easy, for me anyway. Bouncing the signal of my computer off multitudes of other signals and hacking into prison databases with little of a hard time. Who knew watching Thomas hack so much would come to be so useful? It also helped that the Japanese Police database was so loose. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else was looking at their information, like, oh, I don't know, Kira?

I'm going to try getting into the Interpol meeting, I could probably overshadow one of the newer policemen to do so. Perhaps I'll track that Touta Matsuda person that came into the bakery a while back with a duplicate for a couple of days and get a glimpse of his personality. According to the data in the database, he's still a green policeman, so not a lot of people may know him completely just yet. From what other information I saw on him, he's to go to the Interpol meeting with Soichiro Yagami, the highly regarded chief of the NPA. I can send a duplicate to school, but maybe I should just follow Matsuda while I'm invisible instead of overshadowing him. Yes, I shall do that. I shall only overshadow him if the need arises.

If, on the chance I do need to overshadow him, I will have to be very careful of my word choices, make sure to keep my eyes from glowing and keep my voice from slipping through his. Hopefully, the Interpol meeting will be in a large room, as I expect it to be. That way the echo of my voice will simply be disregarded.

If who I think has taken an interest in this "Kira" case, this Interpol meeting will no doubt be a spectacle to see.

* * *

Please leave any comments on what I could improve upon or anything you liked! Remember that flames, however, shall not be tolerated.


	3. Interpol and L's Challenge

A/N) This is the chapter where things start to really move along. Some information that I forgot to mention in the last chapters is that Danielle doesn't exist and Vlad died due to his accident in college; which is what caused Maddie and Jack to isolate themselves. The two tended to stay alone in the basement together, only ever coming up to eat, sleep or relieve themselves. Shopping was left to Jazz and Danny. While Jack and Maddie paid attention to Jazz; Danny tended to fade into the background, unnoticed. Due to their neglegence, Danny doesn't see them as his parents, just people in his life he rarely pays attention to. The one he sees as his mother would be Jazz because she was the ones to take care of him while their parents worked. All the time. He loved Jazz, he considered her his mother, not his sister.

Disclaimer!~ I don't own Danny Phantom or Death Note nor any other fandoms that are referenced in my story

**Bolded words are from the actual anime. As I introduce Danny to the Task Force, these will appear less and less.**

* * *

"Yuki, I'll be out late tonight, alright! There are some things I need to do after my classes, so I won't be able to work with you and Aiko, okay?" I shouted as I packed everything I needed for my lessons into my shoulder bag.

"Alright, the days have been slower lately due to school finals, we should be fine by ourselves. Though, if you don't mind me asking, where will you be going?" Yuki questioned loudly from the kitchen downstairs.

"I was assigned a project that I need to do a bit of investigating for. I'll be going to a few public libraries, maybe a couple other places, looking for information," I explained as I tromped down the stairs.

I wasn't completely lying, I've taken it upon myself to figure out the Kira case. It was a self-imposed project. I still felt a bit guilty for lying to Yuki though. I'd investigate as Phantom, so as to keep others from connecting Yuki and Aiko to me. I don't want them to get hurt because of me, especially since they've only ever shown me kindness. They weren't scared, and that fact made me want to cry out of joy.

"Try not to stay out too late!" she yelled as I jogged out the door, closing it behind me as I went.

I got to the University and hurried to the bathroom. Once I made sure that no one else was in there with me, I let the glowing rings that signaled my transformation wash over me. The ice cold sensation that always accompanied them was welcomed.

My abilities, which were already powerful, had expanded in number through my high school and college years. Of course I had the basic ghost powers, invisibility, intangibility, flight and ectoplasmic blasts. I also have my ice powers, cryokinesis, and my ghostly wail. All of these on top of my shadow powers, the abilities I've had since I was young. I've gained duplication, teleportation, shape shifting, telekinesis, and, with a lot of effort, the ability to open portals to the Ghost Zone.

I prefer to use my birth powers, they were much easier to control. I could travel within the shadows and raise skeletons from the earth. It was thanks to the former that I got to Japan, and, well, the skeleton helped to relieve my loneliness if only for a short while.

I gave a nod to the duplicate I just created and handed him my shoulder bag after he returned to our human form. We went our separate ways, him through the restroom door and me through the ceiling.

* * *

I flew to the apartment of Touta Matsuda. The young policeman was just making his way out the door with a piece of buttered toast hanging from his mouth. I followed him down to his vehicle and phased in while he started it. The ride to the NPA headquarters was short, but not at all quiet. Matsuda-san liked to sing along to the radio music, it was… debatable if he was good or not.

When we stopped, I phased out of his car and waited while he gathered his things. I shadowed him as he trudged his way to his office, looking at all the people and rooms we were passing by in hopes of memorizing as much as I could. Matsuda-san soon stopped in front of a man with greying hair. The man, holding himself with confidence and giving off an air that demanded respect, greeted Matsuda-san with a nod and a handshake. This man was most likely to be Soichiro Yagami, husband to Sachiko Yagami and father to Light and Sayu Yagami.

"We will be leaving for the meeting soon. You are just in time, so there is nothing to worry about, Matsuda-san," the Chief of the NPA said in response to Matsuda-san's worrying.

* * *

When we got to the building that the meeting was scheduled to be in, we walked in and Yagami-san signed Matsuda-san and himself in. He then dismissed himself to go to the restroom and left Matsuda-san to find the room the meeting was being held in. Ten minutes went by with me smiling in amusement and Matsuda-san wandering in confusion. I finally made a trail of frost leading to the room for poor, confused Matsuda-san to follow. I walked to the back right corner of the room, where a large majority of shadows had congregated, scoping out the room and the people as I did so.

It didn't take very long for the meeting to start. Chief Yagami joined Matsuda-san in the seats designated for them a few minutes before things really got started. Once every seat was filled, there was a few minutes of silence before a cacophony of noise and yelling exploded from the group. It got to the point that I had to cover my ears, and, even after doing that, I could still hear them. Vaguely, I could see Matsuda-san whisper something to Yagami-san and get an answer in return, but I couldn't them over everyone else.

Suddenly, everybody stopped, they didn't talk and they didn't move. As a collective group, every person turned their head to a man walking onto the stage at the lowest point of the room. The man wore a leather duster with four buckles on the chest that covered his body, from his neck to his lower shins, a brown fedora that was lowered to cover his face and shiny, black, leather dress shoes. From my position, I could see an outline of a mustache and a couple wrinkles. There was no doubt in my mind that this is Watari, the only known person to be able to contact L.

Watari finally stopped at the podium in the middle of the stage, the podium that held a projector for presentations. He pulled out a laptop from under his coat, set it down on the podium and plugged it into the projector with a connecting cord. The projection screen lit up with a picture of a letter, the letter "L," the font of the letter being Cloister Black. The letter "L" in Cloister Black font was the symbol of L, the world's best detective. We'd be listening to the mystery man himself.

**"Greetings to all of you at the ICPO. I am L,"** a monotone, computerized voice drawled from the room speakers.

**"The difficulty of this case lies in its unprecedented scope, and make no mistake, we're witnessing an atrocious act of mass murder. One that is unforgivable. This case cannot be solved without the full cooperation of the ICPO. That is, all of the police organizations you represent throughout the world. You need to make the decision to fully support the investigation, at this meeting. Also, I require additional cooperation with Japan's National Police Agency,"** L's computerized voice echoed around the room.

Well, that didn't surprise me in the least. I had already figured out that Kira was in Japan and that he or she needed a name and face to kill. The long series of deaths started with a man named Kurou Otoharada, who I'm guessing was simply a guinea pig for Kira to test his or her powers on.

I heard Matsuda-san mutter an intelligent, **"Huh!"** but Chief Yagami was much better with expressing his surprise.

**"What! Why Japan in particular?"** he questioned.

**"Whether the guilty party is an individual or a group, there's a strong possibility they're Japanese, and even if they're not, we can be sure that they are hiding in Japan,"** L responded.

**"What is this based on?"** Yagami-san asked.

**"Why Japan, you ask? I think I'll be able to provide you with proof of that after I directly confront the culprit,"** L replied.

**"A direct confrontation?"** the Chief murmured questioningly.

**"At any rate, I will set up the investigation headquarters in Japan,"** L finalized.

I will admit, L's plan to use a criminal meant to be executed soon, in his confrontation with Kira, was smart. Though, that was to be expected, you couldn't be the best detective in the world if you were dumb. He'd have the scripted challenge broadcasted in every region of Japan, one after another, until Kira responded by killing the criminal. By replying to L's challenge, Kira would be giving his location away.

"We'd like to apologize for this interruption. We bring you a live broadcast from the ICPO," the news anchor informed.

**"I head an international police task force which includes all member nations. I am Lind L. Tailor, otherwise known as L,"** the black-haired man on the television revealed.

**"So this is how it all starts,"** Yagami-san said.

**"But, you said L has never shown his face before, why would he show himself now,"** Matsuda-san asked.

A good question, for someone who didn't know what it meant to have a secret identity. I knew that the man on the screen wasn't L the moment he appeared, however, they didn't. Except me, everyone standing in this office in this building, the NPA headquarters, didn't know that the man on the television wasn't L, but a criminal that had been caught in secrecy. These men didn't know L was still hiding, I knew because I was the same as L. I wasn't about to shout to hundreds upon thousands of people who I was and what I am, why would L?

**"It must mean that L is serious about this,"** Yagami-san answered.

**"Criminals around the globe are being killed by a serial murderer. I consider this crime to be the vilest act of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will hunt you down, I will find you. Kira, I have a pretty good idea of what your motivation might be and I can guess what you hope to achieve, however, what you're doing right now is evil,"** the criminal in disguise spoke.

Not a minute after he said that did his eyes widen as he grabbed at his chest and tossed his head into the air. He then collapsed onto the table in front of him, dead. Two men came and dragged him away after checking for a pulse. Seconds after they stepped off screen, L's stylized letter appeared.

**"I had to test this, but I never thought it would actually happen. Kira, you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't just witnessed it. Listen, Kira, if you did indeed kill Lind L. Tailor, the man you killed on the television previously, he was a criminal whose execution was scheduled for today. Police arrested in secrecy, so you wouldn't have heard about him on the TV or the internet,"** L explained.

Kira has to be furious right now, or surprised, thinking he had killed L, but in reality he just screwed himself, hard. He gave us an area to investigate, by making a mistake on his part. So far, in this competition, it's L; one and Kira; zero.

**"I assure you, L is real, and I do exist. Now try to kill me! Come on, try to kill me! Can't you do it? Well, Kira, it seems that you can't kill me after all. So there are some people that you can't kill. You've given me a useful hint. I will return the favor. This broadcast was said to be broadcast around the world, but in actuality, we're only being broadcasted in the Kanto region of Japan. I had planned on broadcasting this around the whole world, one country at a time, but it looks like I won't need to. I now know where you are,"** L taunted.

Hmm, one would have never expected the world's best detective to jibe the enemy into killing him. That would only make a person angry, oh, who am I kidding? I pissed off who knows how many people with my witty banter. I did it to make them make mistakes during our fighting, and it always worked. L was most likely doing the same thing in a different way.

**"The police treated your first killing as an unrelated incident, but one of your first victims was in Shinjuku. On the scale of crimes your victims committed, this ones' crime was by far the least serious. Furthermore, his crime was only ever reported in Japan. I use that information to deduce this much, you are in Japan, your first victim being little more than a test subject. Meaning you haven't been killing for very long,"** clarified L.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who figured that out. I wonder, just how much information that L has will correlate with mine.

**"We decided to broadcast in Kanto first because of its large population, luckily for us, we found you. I never expected things to go this well. It won't be too long now before I'm able to sentence you to death,"** admitted the detective.

**"L sure lives up to his reputation,"** muttered Matsuda-san.

**"Yes, he proved that Kira exists, that the deaths were murders and that he is here in Japan,"** Chief Yagami agreed.

**"Naturally, I'm very interested in how you're able to commit these murders without being seen. However, I don't mind waiting, you can answer all of my questions when I catch you. I hope we can meet soon, Kira,"** his last words floated around the room.

Ha! He was pretty much saying, "I can't wait to see you captured."

* * *

I doubted there was anything else I needed to stay in there, in the NPA building, for. So I took off for the bakery. Landing next to my copy, I tapped his shoulder. He finished ringing up a customer and readying their order, he excused himself to the restroom. I followed, closing the door behind us. I lifted my invisibility and he transformed, reaching for my hand.

The moment we connected, I received his memories as we became one again. Thanks to my duplicate's findings, I can safely say that Kira is a student. I'll wait and see if the NPA or L can confirm that as well. All I need to do is wait.

Knowing that the police will most likely chicken out of the investigation, the group left standing tall will be small. L has to have considered this already. The ones left, the officers willing to give their lives, will be the people working in close quarters with him. Perhaps even seeing him in person. Yes, he'll take the most trustworthy of the men, the ones who don't care who they work with so long as Kira is captured in the end. Those men shall be the ones to see the face of the greatest detective in the world. I will wait for those men to be revealed.

Stepping out of the restroom, I returned to my register. Watching Yuki and Aiko go about their business, I heard the door open. In walked a brown-haired, brown-eyed boy around seventeen years of age in a light brown suit. It wasn't him that made me bat an eye though, it was his companion that did. The vaguely human like thing behind him bore blue skin, eyes with red pupils and yellow sclera, black pants and shoes, a dark grey belt complete with a skull buckle, and a dark blue shirt with feathers on the shoulders to top it all off.

Keeping my face the same wasn't very hard, I've seen far too many bizarre things to question this. I looked at the boy as he walked up to the counter I was standing behind. When he stopped in front of me, I looked him in the eye with a smirk on my face and greeted him, "Hello, welcome to Sweetie Bell's! What can I get for you?"


	4. Agents, Anger and L's Friend

A/N) New chapter is done and uploaded! It took me a while to finish this with all the reviewing for finals that my teachers have me and my classmates doing. Such a pain! Though it definitely helps that we're reading the Odyssey in English, I'd be bored otherwise. I go from Latin to English on to Textile Arts, which is followed by Science, Study Hall, Geometry, and AFJROTC, in that order. I know I'll ace the finals for the first three and maybe the sixth, but my drill finals for ROTC have me on edge. Here's this chapter in the hopes I don''t completely and utterly fail.

* * *

It wasn't very long before I started seeing people trailing other people. If my theory about the NPA and L not trusting one another was correct, they were most likely agents form another country. Perhaps each agent was from a different country. There were at least ten agents in Japan, give or take a couple if I was wrong.

Then there was that boy, Light Yagami, that often visited the bakery, always with that tall humanoid creature that held a smile full of jagged teeth. A man with black hair would come in after him, order a cup of coffee, and sit not too close, but not too far, to him. I suspected that he was an agent, following a potential suspect, Light, on L's request. The tall creature would tell the young man that the older man with black hair was watching him. That is what I could glean from the answers that Light would give the creature after its lips moved. I had a hard time of it, trying to read the creature's lips, lips that were always stretched in a gruesome grin. Then, when he was done with his order, he'd leave with his weird buddy. The agent would stay and extra few minutes, so as to not attract any unwanted attention, then continue after Light and his odd looking creature companion.

People keep having heart attacks, and thanks to that pressure, NPA officers are dropping out of the Kira case like dead flies out of the air. There is very little trust between the NPA and L. It won't be long before the final group of men reveals itself. I'll have to introduce myself to them. That will be easier if I bring my data, which is something I had planned to do from the very start. Hopefully they will be more at ease once I've explained what I've been doing. I just pray that they don't flip out, I know that it'd murder my ears without a doubt.

* * *

"We cannot continue to investigate this case, sir! We have families to think about!" the man said loudly.

I could taste the anxiety in the air. All the men were worried, understandably so considering what they just heard, after listening to the three men announce that all Kira needed to kill someone was their name and face. This wasn't a surprise to me, I'd figured that out a while ago, seeing as I had started investigating Kira before they had. Though it's not like I could just present my information to them. With the lack of common sense in the world, they'd probably end up not believing me thinking that I'm just an amateur, a kid. Which was another reason why I wanted to wait for the number of officers to decrease, less people equals less complaints.

The others in the office began murmuring angrily or worriedly. The angry people muttered things about how L never showed his face while the worried people questioned whether they should continue with the case or quit. L and Watari were quiet, simply listening to them jabber. I noticed Watari's mouth turn into a frown after there were a few derogatory remarks quietly directed at L.

Perhaps Watari was L's guardian? Maybe, his father? Either way, Watari was most certainly not happy after hearing those choice words, at all. His aura, which had been calmly swaying before, was now lashing around him agitatedly. Of course only I could see this, but the other humans could sense that he was angry. They swiftly moved away from him if they didn't need anything from that area, however, those who were working on the computers close to him were not as lucky. They didn't have my sympathy though, they brought it upon themselves. If Watari isn't L's father figure then I'll be damned. Oh, wait… I already am. Crap!

* * *

"Another six, all heart attacks, yes, that's Kira," the Chief confirmed.

"What? Three did something we haven't seen before? What are you talking about? You said they died of heart attacks didn't you," he questioned in surprise.

"One moment, I'd like to type this information in, in detail. Okay, tell me slowly," Chief Yagami requested politely.

At this point the Chief stops typing and listens to the person on the other end of the phone line with a disturbed look on his face. A few minutes later Watari informs L of the unusual deaths, telling him that he'd send him the pictures that had been taken of the evidence and a note that had been written by one of the victims.

A few minutes after L is sent the pictures, he suddenly spoke, "Chief! Concerning the last three victims, please tell the media that they simply died of heart attacks. Kira may be using those victims to test something. We can't let him see if he succeeded or not."

"Using human beings as guinea pigs… it's disgusting!" Chief Yagami declared.

Yes, it truly is. I've always believed that life was priceless, and seeing this want-to-be-god throw away all those lives, those people, made me want to punch something. They may have been criminals, yes, but they were people first and foremost. Not only that, but you have to ask yourself this, how many? How many of those people had been falsely accused? How many of those people had families? How many families were left without a father or mother to support them? How many orphans were now suffering without their parents?!

As a former hero, I wasn't supposed to judge anyone. Good or bad, it didn't matter what kind of person they were, I was to save them if they were in dire trouble. I was to be unbiased, no matter if I liked that person or not. If I turned my back to someone in need of help just because I didn't like them, I wouldn't be able to call myself a hero. This Kira person, he made me absolutely furious. I wasn't about to let that fury however.

These latest deaths had to be an answer to L's challenge. The note, after sneaking a peek and thinking about it for a while, is clearly the beginning of a coded question. What kind of question, I don't know, but I have not a single doubt that Kira will finish his inquiry soon.

* * *

It was several days later that the secret agents died. Not just one, all of them. The black haired man, as I had originally thought, had been an agent. He no longer came into the bakery following Light, the rather self-accomplished looking young man. They had all died a week after that attempted bus high-jacking. Maybe there was a connection between the two?

The officers were furious after finding out that L had them tracked. Many of them left, either because they didn't want to work with L anymore or because they now knew that Kira wasn't limiting himself to killing only criminals. Kira wasn't going to show mercy, he'd take out anyone who got in his way. His biggest obstacle right now was definitely L. He'd need a way to kill him, seeing his face and getting his name was the only way to do so. Getting close to L is what he will attempt now. If he doesn't, he'll have a much harder time of ridding himself of L.

To avoid that, I'll have to introduce myself to L first. I'll get close to him to protect him, not to kill him. They say L only investigates cases because they interest him, not out of a sense of justice. That may or may not be true, but L was needed. There is no denying that fact. He solved many of the cases that the police couldn't. L was reclusive, keeping to himself with only Watari for company, and even that wasn't for certain.

If the public knew who he was, he'd be pestered endlessly. Either by his fans or people that hated him for one reason or another or for no reason at all. Then there were the ass-hats that would just pretend to be his friends until he was bled dry, left with nothing but a broken heart. Just like I had been. I don't want to see that happen to another person, the feeling is absolutely terrible and definitely not something I'd wish upon anyone.

Yes, I'll protect him not only from Kira, but from that pain as well. I will be his friend, may be even his first friend. I shall be his sword, shield and or armor should he need it.

* * *

A/N) Reviewers!

Phantom Possible ~ Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you like my idea! I'm sorry I didn't put any answers to the reviews in the last chapter. I would have had I not had to hurry to a family outing, one I sadly was not allowed to bring my laptop to. Your right about the flaming, though it's not so much the comments directed at me as it is certain topics that irritate me. Thanks for reviewing!

shadow of eyes ~ Thank you! I hope this chapter is satisfactory. I hope you like this too!

Hopefully I can update again soon! All of you readers that review make me extremely happy!


	5. Shoko Maki

Hey, everybody! I've finally gotten this chapter up! I didn't get a chance to work on it until Friday around 4 o'clock. I hadn't expected that my classes would change right after Finals, so that really threw me off course. That and the fact that I no longer have a free period in between two of my other classes. Which means I can't write during school and won't be able to write until I get home, sometime around 4 to 5 o'clock. This really irritates me because I rather like writing during my school day, it helps get rid of my stress. Now, not being able to get rid of my stress, my head feels like it's about to explode. Needless to say, I hate my new schedule.

* * *

I was right about the police not trusting L. After finding out about the FBI agents, the link between the two was a lot more frayed. Every day I'd hear muttered expletives about either Kira or L. I can understand why they'd curse Kira, seeing as he's killed hundreds of people, but was it honestly necessary to swear at L? L is the best detective in the world, did they not think that there were people on this planet that would like to kill him?

All of this reminds me of all the "heroing" that I did in Amity. I'd help a person, only to get spat on in return. I didn't have to help them, did I? No! But I did. I did because I knew that it was the right thing to do. I knew that, if I didn't help them, they would die.

Now, L is helping the NPA, the world really, by investigating this case. He didn't have to, he could've just sat back and watched everyone die, but he did. These people didn't know him, yet they insulted him every time Watari was gone with the laptop!

It was sickening, listening to them. It was like being a spectator, watching as someone else went through the same harassment that I went through. It angered me quite a bit, hearing their words and thoughts. They didn't know him, so they shouldn't be talking! If they wanted someone to swear at they could swear at Kira, not the person taking precious time out of their day to help them! There was only a small group of men who didn't stoop to the others' level. They were there to work, and that's what they did.

They were currently talking about another note that had been left by one of Kira's victims. It was easy to figure out, taking the first word of every line to make a fragment of a sentence. "L, do you know gods of death…," is what the two notes read when they were combined. The next note should be the third and final part of the question.

* * *

What. The. Hell. "L, do you know gods of death love apples?" Really?!

Kira killed three people to send that? He has to be dicking around, trying to get under L's skin. There has to be something else though, a bigger clue. With this bold a move, he's trying to get L to reveal himself. Kira may be pressuring him, but he or she doesn't know about me. My anonymity is simply a safeguard for Yuki and Aiko. I'm pretty much already dead, so I'm not really worried about myself. When someone's dead, they're dead. The accident that killed me isn't exactly common.

Thinking about the Kira case as I walked home from listening to the bickering policemen at the NPA headquarters, I didn't see that a woman turned the corner of a building walking with her head down, lost in her own world like me. Just as I was about to turn and walk in the same direction she was walking, we ran into each other. She ended up on the cold cement as I stumbled backwards.

Catching my balance once more, I held my hand out to help her to her feet as I studied her. She was a beautiful woman, with her long, black hair that fell to the middle of her back, creamy pale skin and deep, dark blue eyes. Her eyes, though so very gorgeous, were filled with pain, as if she had a part of her heart ripped out. She wore a black, leather jacket, tight navy blue jeans and black, short-heeled boots.

"I'm terribly sorry about that, I hadn't been watching where I was going," I apologized sincerely.

"It's alright, I wasn't either," she admitted as she wiped the cold December snow off of her pants.

Now, normally I would have just apologized and said good-bye, but we were going in the same direction and she had peaked my curiosity. I wanted to know why she looked so miserable. I don't know who she is, for all I know she could be Kira, but I wanted to know why she was sad. I'll give her my alias instead of my real name.

"My name is Ryu Kuro, it's nice to meet you. Though I must say that our greeting could use a little work," I introduced myself.

She laughed, "Yes, I suppose it could. I'm Shoko Maki."

We walked together, chatting about random things. After a while, we stopped at a small coffee shop to get out of the bitter, cold wind. Inside the café, Shoko and I sat in one of the more secluded areas. On one wall in our view was a medium sized television. On the TV was a news channel, broadcasting more deaths of prisoners. This broke our contented ramblings.

"This is disgusting, how can someone just keep taking lives like this?" I asked Shoko quietly, hoping to gauge her response.

Shoko had a very dark look on her face, a look that spelled danger for anyone who was the cause of her ire. If anyone set her off when she was like this they should have an escape route in mind, and even then they aren't guaranteed to get away from her without a few bruises. She lost someone close to her, of that I am now most certain, but who was it? Maybe a sibling, parent, or lover? They must have been a great person because I doubt that Shoko, who I can already tell is both kind and stubborn in equal measures, would tolerate being with someone who was rotten.

"Shoko, did Kira take someone important from you?" I inquired quietly.

Shoko, startled out of her glaring at the television, looked at me with wide eyes. She glanced down at the table we were sitting at with sadness. It was obvious that she was debating on if she should tell me or not, if she could trust me. I just waited for her answer in silence.

Shoko looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said one word, "Yes."

Her answer made me angry, but I didn't let it show. Letting my anger show wasn't going to help her, what she need was for someone to lend her their ear and listen, not for someone to rant in hers. I listened as she poured her heart out. She sobbed about her fiancé, Raye Penber, and his murder. Then, after draining herself of her sorrows, she told me of her theory of Kira being able to kill people with more than just heart attacks.

"That does sound like it could be possible. He can kill people without having to be there in person, so why wouldn't he be able to do that? Right?" I agreed.

"Yes, my theory is that Kira got Raye to show him his ID in that bus jacking a while ago. Kira had to have been on that bus because, a couple days after showing his ID to someone, he died," affirmed Shoko.

"That's what I thought too, it just seemed too suspicious to me. Maybe if you asked the driver of the bus if he or she saw you fiancé, and let he or she see a picture of him, they could confirm if they remember if they saw him or not. Then after that, you could ask them if they saw him talk to anybody," I suggested.

"That is what I was thinking of doing. I had also thought of taking my theory to the Japanese Task Force in the hopes of talking directly to L," Shoko confessed.

"Good Thinking," I responded as I looked at a clock at the far end of the café, "Well, it's getting pretty late, would you like me to walk you home?"

"No, I'll be fine on my own. Thanks for listening to my theories and letting me get a few things off my chest," she thanked me.

"No problem. Here's my number, you can call me if you need someone to listen to you. I wouldn't mind talking to you again, so don't hesitate to call," I responded as I handed her a napkin that I had just wrote my cell phone number on.

"I think I will call you, talking to someone who shares my views has definitely made me feel better. Here's my number, I'll talk to you again, Ryu. Have a good evening," Shoko replied.

"You too, hope to see you again soon," I nodded to her as we walked out of the café.

I'm glad that I could help her. Looking back at her as she walked away, I could tell that Shoko had her confidence back. She didn't shuffle her feet with her head down and shoulders hunched anymore. Her head held high, her shoulders squared and confident in her stride, she was the picture perfect form of fearlessness. Yes, I truly am happy that I helped get such a smart, beautiful woman back on her feet.

Turning back to my route home, a smile made its way onto my face unnoticed. I enjoyed talking to Shoko and I look forward to talking with her again. It's very hard to find someone with any common sense these days. You go outside and it's like everyone else left their brain at home. Meeting Shoko was a breath of fresh air. She knew what she was talking about and could explain it clearly. I can't wait to talk to her again.

* * *

Review Responses ~

Supaherolena02 ~ Thank you! I'm glad my story caught you eye! This is the newest chapter, I hope you like it. You won't have to wait much longer when it comes to the meeting between Danny and L, I'm thinking of introducing the two to each other within the next two chapters! ;)

Paramillo ~ I'm happy you like it! Thank you so much for reading I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the previous one. :D

Guest ~ Thank you! This is what you were waiting for, right? :)

Well, here it is, the fifth chapter of The World's Cruelty. I hope everyone enjoys it! I try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but please remember and respect that I am a student and my studies must come first. I am trying to lengthen my chapters, but not everything goes to plan. I love writing so hopefully I'll get the next chapter up by the end of next month at the latest. Until next chapter, bye!


	6. The Final Five and the Meeting

Hey, everybody! I finally got this up and I no longer feel like I'm about to punch someone multiple times in the head, with a foldable, steel chair. I want to apologize for making everyone wait for so long and to thank you for being so patient with me, even if I wasn't with myself. My process of writing takes a while to work with, but I'd rather have my work be presentable and late than for it to be a puddle of word vomit and early. I hope that this pleases all of you, considering that I did nearly three times the work I usually do and at least 1,500 more words than my 2,000 something word chapter.

As always I don't own Danny Phantom or Death Note nor any of the characters from either series.

The characters I do own however are Yuki and Aiko, the two girls that Danny is currently staying with while he is in college. I've set up a poll, on my profile, for the crossover with Bleach and DP. Check that out please, it will make things much easier for me if you do. Thank you!

* * *

I watched as Chief Yagami spoke to all the men in the office. He told them that if they weren't willing to lay their lives on the line to catch Kira they could leave and then requested that those who were to remain in the task force office. He had already talked to the Deputy Director General about them not getting demoted should they decide to leave while he was in a meeting until 5 'clock. Getting up from his seat at the large table in the back of the room; he walked out through the wooden double doors of the office.

The following hours were uneventful as all but Watari and five men had left. Everyone but me, Watari and the five men had exited the spacious room not even five minutes after the Chief had left. Of course, the group didn't know I was there, seeing as I was currently invisible, in the darkest corner of the office and far from any windows. The man that I had followed to Interpol, Touta Matsuda, was one of the five officers still in the room. He and Shuichi Aizawa, Kanzo Mogi, Hideki Ide and Hirokazu Ukita were the only policemen left in the room. Mogi sat at the computers, Aizawa, Ukita, and Ide all sat at a table behind and to the left of him and Matsuda was at a table to the left of him as well, though three more tables lay between them. While we waited for Chief Yagami to return, they talked about their families, most likely to diffuse the awkward tension of the silent room.

"Just five…," the Chief murmured once he looked up from the floor after closing the wooden doors behind himself.

Then, after looking each of the men in the eyes and noting their nervous yet certain expressions, said, "No… as many as five of you are willing to lay your lives on the line willingly. That makes six of us, counting myself. With just six of us, how are we going to do this?"

Matsuda responded excitedly, "There's L and if you include Watari, which makes eight of us, Sir."

L's scrambled, monotone voice filtered through the speakers, "Those of you who are brave and committed enough to remain, I have faith in you."

Ide suddenly elbowed Aizawa in the ribs, making the man with the afro jolt.

Aizawa turned around to face Watari and the laptop that the disguised man always carried with him and interrupted awkwardly, "Uh… one moment, L may have faith in us, but we don't have faith in him. We can't trust him."

This irritates me more every time someone mentions it. They don't even seem to think on the topic of why L hides his face or keeps to himself. They just blurt out that they can't trust him since they haven't seen him. There are thousands of people all over this planet that follow different gods without ever seeing their faces. They blindly put their faith in them hoping to glean even a shred of protection they won't ever get. It isn't anyone other than themselves keeping them from getting hurt. It all comes down to will. Faith holds a part, yes, but it also comes down to whether they keep up that faith. For instance, someone who has their house blessed to keep out any unsavory spiritual entities. They have faith that those boundaries will hold. When their faith, their will, wanes, that is when the demons hit with all the strength they have, that is when people are most vulnerable after all. If you have the will to keep the walls up, you haven't got any problems, if you don't, well you'd better hope you live with someone who does.

Aizawa continued, "L, we're willing to risk our lives to catch Kira. You know that we're fully exposed. You've never actually shown yourself throughout this whole ordeal so far."

Ukita spoke up, "L, we'll hunt Kira, but we won't work with you. Mind you, it's not just us, the public isn't in your favor either. What did you expect? If someone claims that it's your fault that the FBI agents died, who can deny it?"

Okay, that was a low blow. L was most likely beating himself up due to that already. To throw that into his face was like getting physically hit. I should know, the many times I had been blamed for the deaths of people who had been caught between me and my many adversaries in the middle of the heat of battle had caused mental and emotional wounds that I doubted were ever going to truly healed. Heck, there were times I still blamed myself. Had I been stronger, faster, and smarter than those enemies then maybe, just maybe, those innocent people might have lived. Seeing Ukita throw that accusation at L was definitely something that angered me. How was L supposed to have known that those FBI agents were going to get killed, he wasn't an oracle, an augur or any other prophecy bearing official to anyone's knowledge. Honestly, how was he to know that such a thing was to happen to those people. Those people who knew the dangers of their job, a job that if one is caught in means almost certain death if the person they follow is on the less reasonable side of the stick. Sure, they were angry about being tailed, but, not including anyone's privacy, did that really harm anybody?

Chief Yagami's calm, unassuming voice broke my focus from my thoughts and intervened the accusing words, "A number of criminal psychologists have suggested that L is Kira, that he has a split personality. L brought in the FBI agents, said agents were than killed. You would have known their names and would have seen their faces in the files that you no doubt have, L."

I couldn't get mad at the older policeman, he wasn't accusing anyone of doing anything. He was simply stating facts. He had no doubt been in this job for a long time and had learned things that the other officers hadn't learned yet. He knew that without solid evidence he couldn't actually blame anything on anybody. He obviously believed in the phrase, "Innocent until proven guilty." This man has my respect, there is no way I can't give him it, and not doing so would be an insult.

Aizawa resumed the conversation, "That's not the last of it! Once you think of everything that's happened, with L as the orchestrator it suddenly makes sense!"

This is just getting ridiculous now. They have no evidence that L did anything other than bring the FBI agents into Japan, and L was, without a doubt, still bruising himself over it. Accusing him of Kira's activities was adding insult to injury. Not only that, but Watari was now visibly getting irritated now as well. His tensed shoulders definitely gave that away. They weren't respecting someone who was most likely to be his son and that in and of itself was equivalent to disrespecting him.

"The facts that make it even more believable are that he's never shown himself and that he's a genius who can solve any crime," Ide followed after.

"L…," the Chief began placidly, "If you wish to work with us and help us catch Kira, why not come to the task force office in person?"

I can name a couple reasons why L wouldn't want to come here in the flesh. One, L was the best detective on Earth and naturally has quite a few people who would like to see him dead. The second reason, there were quite a few people here who disliked him, namely Aizawa and Ide alongside the rest of the people who left the task force. Why would he want to be in a place filled with hostility and give someone the chance to murder him?

"Yes, if you promise to be a part of the team and show yourself, we'll cooperate with you. We'll be able to trust you," Ide finished as he stood from his chair.

I had to reign in my frustration tightly at this point as I listened to them voice themselves. They were asking a lot of someone who they were disrespecting. Why should he do anything for them? He could call quits right now and I wouldn't blame him. They had accused him of things he hadn't done, horrible things that made me seethe with anger. The only ones not in the conversation, other than me and Watari, were Matsuda and Mogi who seemed more intent to listen than to jump into it. I wasn't too cross with the Chief, who was more polite with his stating of facts, or Ukita, who hadn't said much in favor of letting the other three men speak. Ide and Aizawa were most definitely pressing my buttons though. The tones they were taking were more than just rude. If they didn't have the ability to question someone politely, they should leave it to the Chief, who had more of his wits about him than the two of them combined.

After a few moments of silence, L spoke up, "I said that I had faith in you earlier, Watari…"

"Yes," Watari responded tersely as he turned the laptop to face the six other men.

I had to float away from the corner I was in to glimpse the message on the screen. It read, "Keep what is going to happen amongst the eight of us a secret, please."

The three men, Ukita, Aizawa, and Ide, looked at the laptop incredulously and curiously as the next message appeared on the screen. "The six of you, who have my trust, I would like to meet you as soon as possible."

Ha! There isn't a doubt in my mind that the last part of that was sarcastic. Though he might not be kidding, as there is a chance that he is socially awkward.

The message continued, "Do not speak to anyone of our meeting, having met me, or what we will be doing. No one, not your family, friends, or anybody in the NPA, no one outside the eight of us are to know of this. Please leave the NPA building to discuss if you can trust me and swear to the above. I will send any more conditions on this computer for our meeting and keep in mind, only those willing to work with me shall return to the room."

The six policemen left the room without a word, leaving me alone in the office with Watari. This could be a chance to introduce myself to Watari, along with L, but that would make the officers wary of me when I met them officially. It would be best to unveil myself during the meeting, when all of them were together.

Only five of the officers came back to the office, Ide being the one missing from the group. Once everyone was in the room and viewing the screen the message, "I am currently in the Imperial Hotel," appeared on the laptop. The Chief was the only policeman not to let his jaw drop. Another message popped up saying that he'd be moving to different hotels in the Tokyo area every few days and requested that the office they were currently using as the task force headquarters be used as a front while they use his hotel room as the real headquarters. A brilliantly simply strategy to deter people from where they really were working.

Two more paragraphs of text blinked onto the laptop screen a few minutes later. The first saying that he knew of the advantage in the fact that it was to prevent Kira from figuring out his identity and that was as far as he was going to go at this point of time to gain their trust and work with them in the investigation. The second paragraph told them that it they were able to cooperate on his terms they were to split into two teams and come to his hotel room by midnight with at least a thirty minute interval between the arrivals of the two groups. It also included that Watari would give them a memo with his room number on it and that he would be waiting.

* * *

I simply waited for Watari to show Chief Yagami the memo and, after sneaking a peek of it, flew to L's hotel room. When I arrived, outside his room window, I found a figure staring out the ceiling-to-floor window, through me and down at the city below. From what I could see, there was no one else in the room, which meant that the lone figure looking out the window was L. Squinting closer, through the glare of lights on the outside of the window, I saw a young male, most likely early to mid-twenties, judging by his youthful appearance. He wore a pair of baggy blue jeans, a white, long-sleeved t-shirt and seemed to be bare-footed on the soft carpet of his hotel room. I caught slivers of deep, dark ocean-blue eyes under messy black hair that could have been in the bed-head hair fashion. He was hunched over, as if the weight of the world had been placed on his shoulders, and his pale hands were clenched, from frustration judging from the look that his face wore. All in all, he looked like an irritated panda bear cub.

The two of us stayed in those positions, him staring down into the busy streets of Tokyo below while I floated invisibly outside his window studying him, until someone must've knocked on the door to his room. I fazed through the window into his room as he walked through a doorway into the entryway calling out, "I've been waiting for you, please come in."

"I'm L," L greeted them as he scratched his left ankle with his right foot.

The policemen introduced themselves and l did something unexpected in return. He put his right hand up, mimicking a gun, and said, "Bang!"

The startled officers sputtered officers and asked if that was his of a joke. Yeah, L was definitely socially awkward because that isn't exactly something you do in the presence of police. Though, I do give him kudos for surprising them, and me, like that. L responded to their question that if he had been Kira, Yagami-san would be dead. He then explained that all Kira needed to murder someone was knowledge of their name and face and that they should have known that by now.

"You can't kill someone just by knowing what their face looks like and what their name is, is what common sense says. But, on the basis of that information alone, criminals are dropping dead one after another. We have no choice but to believe it- that is how he kills people," L explained further.

"Let's be careful about telling people our names, seeing as we're the last people willing to risk our lives to catch Kira. Let's value our lives," he finished.

Matsuda questioned the Chief about Kira needing peoples' names to kill them and he reminded him that it had been brought up in one of the task force meetings. L then invited them into a sitting area and asked that all electronic devices be turned off and placed on a low table that sat in the center of an arrangement of chairs and sofas for the duration of their meeting.

Aizawa asked him if he thought that they had their cell phones on talk mode so someone outside could listen in on their meeting and Matsuda asked if L actually trusted them or not. L replied that he simply didn't like to be interrupted by a ringing cell phone while he talked as he climbed into a chair and sat in it in a crouched position, his toes on the edge of his seat and his hands on his knees.

"Don't write anything down, keep everything in your heads. Also, for safety's sake, call me "Ryuzaki" from now on, not "L", " the detective told them calmly as he reached for one of the many teacups on the table in front of him.

Matsuda spoke up as he collapsed into a chair with a floral pattern, "If Kira needs peoples' names and faces, why not just not include them in their criminal coverage? Doing that could limit the number of Kira's victims."

The rest of the men sat down, while I dragged my legs up to sit in a cross-legged position in the air behind "Ryuzaki" as he answered the novice officer, "Ordinary people will be killed if we do that."

When Aizawa and Ukita queried him, he clarified, "Kira hates losing, he is quite childish. How do I know this? I am also childish and hate losing."

"Ryuzaki, can you explain it a little more clearly," the Chief inquired curiously.

L proceeded to remind them of his challenge to Kira who, as far as they knew at the time, had only killed criminals yet, when challenged, didn't hesitate to kill him, or rather the death-row inmate he, Kira, had thought was him, L. Then, after having his location exposed, responded cockily with his own challenge. L asked them what they thought would happen if the media shielded criminals from someone like Kira. He then answered his previous question saying that if they were going to hide criminals, Kira would kill liars, cheaters and innocents, he'd take Earth as a whole hostage. Those who hide evil must be evil themselves! No, the best use of the media would be to hide ourselves, the ones hunting Kira. Every country is providing information for this investigation, including the United States.

"World furious over deaths of FBI agents, U.S. outraged. Total of 1,500 investigators sent to Japan by G8 nations for Kira manhunt. Kira will start panicking, thinking that so many people are after him. He'll make a move once he feels cornered," the detective informed firmly.

Aizawa and Ukita agreed with this plan. Yagami-san said that he'd tell the Director General of the plan as soon as possible. However, Matsuda questioned what Kira would do if cornered like that. L then asked if they minded him speaking his mind about the case.

At their nods that they wouldn't mind, he continued, "Acting as one, Kira is a single person who had or still has access to task force information."

Aizawa interrupted suddenly, "Wait…how do you know he's working alone, what is your basis?"

"Let's let Ryuzaki talk before we start asking question, Aizawa. Let him finish so we can hear what he has to say," the Chief silenced him sternly.

"To murder his victims he needs their names and faces, and to a certain extent, can control their actions before their death as well as the time of their death," L resumed as he yanked the cap off a dry-erase marker he had pulled out of his left pants pocket, "Now, please pay attention to what I say next, keeping those points in mind as you do."

L began writing on the table with the marker, listing notable dates. The first date, December 14th, had **FBI 12, Into Japan **written underneath. The second date, December 19th, had the word **Tests **scribbled under it. Then, after drawing a line with a single arrow at each end between the two dates, said that Kira had found out about the agents on one of the five days in between the two days of importance. He then wrote December 27th, the day all of the FBI agents died, with **FBI 12 **marked under it. The **12** was crossed out by a large, thick **X**, symbolizing the deaths of the twelve agents.

L concluded that Kira had been in touch with at least one of the agents and had seen their ID or file. Drawing a large oval between the dates of the 19th and the 27th with the number twenty-three in a circle at the very bottom, he informed them that twenty-three criminals had died of heart attacks in Tokyo. Kira killing them was most likely because he wanted to draw attention away from himself. Which pointed to the five-day gap between the first two dates was the time period he was being watched in.

I was inclined to agree with L, it made sense to me. Kira leading the police in a different direction than where he was really going was definitely a plausible idea. Shifting from my position and turning so I was floating on my stomach rather than sitting up, I was in perfect view of what the detective was drawing. Though being so close may give him a cold breeze feeling because I was currently stretched out a couple feet above him.

L crossed out the line between the first and second date, picking up a thick stack of papers from under his chair as he did.

"Kira, to get all the names and faces of all twelve of the agents, went through quite a few hoops. He needed to have contact with one of them to get to each and every agent. I've been sent computer records from the FBI that show the order in which they received the file," L said as he took a glimpse of the paper at the top of the stack.

Matsuda, Ukita and Aizawa began talk excitedly when the Chief asked L a question, "You said that you hate losing, earlier. Aren't you admitting that Kira bested you by showing your face to us?"

"I lost, yes, that is what the deaths of the agents and showing my face mean," L acknowledged.

"However… In the end, I will succeed. I've staked my life on a competition for the first time, just as you have. Those of us who are putting their lives at risk, let's show him… that the good guys always win," he carried on.

Oh that was just begging me to reveal myself. I mean honestly, what better chance am I going to get when introducing myself? That phase begged for me to answer it, and who was I to ignore that plead? Leaning down in front of L, while still floating in the air above him and close enough that I could kiss him if I stretched, I let my invisibility fall.

The detective's face was absolutely priceless as I quipped conclusively, "You're one hundred percent correct, we do always win!"

* * *

Superherolena02 ~ Is this awesome enough for now? I was going for something a bit more funny in such a serious story. I had realized that there wasn't a lot of sarcastic!Danny in my fic and I decided that one cannot simply have a fanfiction with Danny in it without including his sarcasm. That is unless the fic calls for Danny without his sarcasm, which are mostly sad and boring. This, my dear, is the next chapter and what you've been waiting for. I hope that it pleases you!

Paramillo ~ I'm glad you liked it, here's another that I hope you like even more! Yeah, my schedule does suck, though things are much better now than before. I had a few things switched around into something more reasonable and all the business is calming down now that people aren't rushing everywhere. Thanks for the well wishes also!

StoriesOfAWizard ~ Thank you so much, I'm glad I could impress you! Here you are, my latest update and the product of relieving my stress from my over worked brain. I hope that this pleases you even more than before.

IcyGhostLlama ~ Thank you, I'm pleased that you like it! I hope you like this chapter even more and that you didn't have too much of a wait. Please, enjoy!

Meowmart01 ~ Yes, you found my first reference! The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is the series I'm referencing with Mrs. Dodds. See if you can find the reference in chapter two!


	7. Phantom!

Hey everyone! It's finally up! After months of set-backs!

I'll be thanking everyone who's favorited, followed, and reviewed at the bottom!

Disclaimer!~ As always, I do NOT own either Death Note or Danny Phantom in any way, shape, or form. They belong to Butch Hartman and Tsugumi Ohba respectively. This is purely for entertainment purposes.

* * *

I screamed as I fell out of my chair backwards, having pushed myself away from the figure in front of my face. The men immediately stood from their seats in surprise. Sitting up, I took another look at the figure I could now recognize as a young man.

Chief Yagami spoke calmly through the others' clamoring, "Who are you? Explain yourself! Now!"

The young male, floating in the air, looked at him and responded with a voice that echoed strangely, "I'm Phantom, and I am currently investigating Kira, the mass murderer playing God."

Turning to me, he admitted, "I was looking to aid L in capturing him."

Aizawa interrupted, distrust plainly shown on his face, "And how would we know that you're trustworthy? You appeared out of nowhere; how do we know that you're not Kira, who's been killing people without being seen at all? How are you actually, and what are you!"

"Because that isn't who I am. Not once have I ever fatally wounded anyone, much less killed anybody; that I am most certain of. While, yes, it pisses me off that you've accused me of killing thousands, millions, of people, I know I am not the mad man playing puppeteer with our lives and I have nothing to fear. After all, why show fear when you haven't done anything?"

Matsuda suddenly gasped, "I recognize you! You're the American hero, Phantom!"

Reaching into his suitcase, he pulled out a clear, plastic file pocket with what seemed to be a thin, paper book in it and another, thicker book, a manga, then continued talking, "I can't believe you're actually real! Amazing! Can you really do all those things? Like the ecto-blasts, ice-blasts, and other stuff? Can you autograph these?"

Phantom backed up from Matsuda, but held onto the books that had been shoved into his hands, chuckling after looking at the covers.

Continuing to laugh, he said, "Do you carry these with you everywhere?"

Matsuda's face reddened as he turned his head away from everyone and yelled, "No!" then mumbled, "At least, not to the bathroom, anyway."

Ukita outright laughed, Mogi snorted while his lips curled into a small, vaguely amused smile, Aizawa snickered loudly, and the Chief chuckled quietly.

"I'll sign it for you, I just need a pen to do it," Phantom said, only to have Matsuda rip a pen out of his breast pocket, and present it to him fast enough to make everyone wonder whether he had super speed or not.

As he signed the front cover of the comic and the inner cover of the manga, the hero revealed, "On the topic of my abilities, yes, I can actually make both of those energy blasts, as well as others," two glowing orbs, one green and one blue, appeared above the hand that held the pen and circled around the writing utensil as he wrote, "It doesn't take a whole lot of energy to make them."

Stacking the books on top of one another, along with the pen, and handing them back to Matsuda, he commented, "I'm quite flattered that these have been made, never would I have ever thought that someone would write anything about me. However, we should get back on topic."

"That would be very much appreciated," I agreed.

"Alright, you, Aizawa, right? You asked me about who and what I am, correct?", Phantom inquired, looking at the man.

"Ah, uh, yes, I did…" he confirmed quietly.

"As Matsuda and I have said, my name is Phantom, and I am what's called a ghost. A supernatural being from the place you'd call Purgatory. I came here to stop the all the killing Kira has been doing," he explained.

"Ghosts? As in, the spirits of the deceased?" I asked, "Surely that isn't so; you've been breathing for the entire time we've been able to see you."

Phantom floated towards me, making everyone tense –all except Matsuda- along with myself. He planted his feet on the floor in front of me and raised his right arm.

Turning his arm over, showing the inner wrist, and urged, "Check for a pulse, and see for yourself."

Arching an eyebrow, I did as instructed and waited. Nothing. Not a single beat swept under my fingers, now cold from touching the pale young man. Letting go of his appendage, I touched my lower lip with my left thumb.

"There is no pulse to be felt, and you're cold to the touch. This leaves one more question: how are you here? I thought that ghosts couldn't be seen," I questioned him, thumb still on my lip, as I looked at his face and into his neon green eyes.

"You're thinking of Low-key ghosts, ghosts that haven't been to the Ghost Zone after dying, and there's a difference between them and me. You see, Purgatory –the Ghost zone– is filled with energy. Imagine a giant battery, that's the Ghost Zone. Now, those who touch the battery are super-charged, and those who don't, aren't. With the energy provided by the battery, the super-charged ghosts are able to blink into or out of the visible spectrum, willingly. The ghosts who have never touched the vast source of energy that the Ghost Zone is don't have that ability. They have to collect energy from their surroundings to even be felt in the smallest of margins," Phantom paused, letting the information sink into everyone's minds.

"I am one of the super-charged ghosts, able to show myself when and where I please," he finished.

I sighed as I thought, 'There'd be no point in excluding him now, he's already seen my face.'

Looking at everyone individually, I said, "Alright. Firstly, as a secondary measure, I'll be speaking with all of you personally."

I tuned out their talking as I walked over to the large window of my hotel room.

I gazed out at the glass at the streets below, thinking, 'One last clue, that's all I need to clinch it. Just one more clue.'

A cold hand, tapping on my right shoulder, stole me from my thoughts.

"I have a laptop that I've put all my information on. In my hurry to get here, I forgot it. Would you prefer I go get it now, or later?" Phantom asked sincerely.

I debated the two options in my head, then answered, "Now would be better. That way I can talk to you about it right after questioning you."

He nodded, accepting my answer, then disappeared.

I can't help but feel like that is going to be a common occurrence as I lead Matsuda into the adjoined room.

* * *

Flying from the hotel to get my computer, I take in the ever-beautiful sight of the city below me. The sun is rising, and the air is chilly against my face.

Passing the NPA building, I notice Shoko Maki making her way inside. I smiled, she was obviously going to have information for the investigation. No one from the task force was there at the time, of course, but the men at the desk would undoubtedly report the fact that she had information on the Kira case to Chief Yagami.

On the way back to L's hotel room, passing by the NPA building again, I saw Shoko talking with a brunet in a tan jacket. They were walking out of the former task force headquarters together. I couldn't see the brown-haired boy's face, he was looking down at a small pad of paper that he seemed to be scribbling on.

It was almost six hours since everyone had convened at L's hotel room, and five and half hours since I left to get my laptop, surely L is almost done questioning the others by now. I had to get back, preferably before L, Ryuzaki, got done interrogating everyone else. Speeding up, I left the two behind me.

* * *

Walking back into the main room with Chief Yagami, I saw that Phantom was just phasing through the large window of the room.

"I'm back with my laptop. Is it my turn now?" he questioned us.

Chief Yagami answered, "Yes, Phantom, you are the only one left for L to question."

Phantom dipped his head and walked into the room behind me, closing the door behind himself.

Crouching on a couch as he floated to the one opposite me and set his computer on the coffee table between us, I confided, "Though I didn't believe them at first, I've read about your exploits; I don't believe that you are Kira."

The ghost hummed, "As you shouldn't. The very thought of taking someone's life repulses me."

"There are two questionable instances of assault and thievery, however. Attacking the Mayor, and stealing precious gems and pricy accessories. Why work so hard to gain the town's approval, only to commit those crimes. What happened during those times to make you act so out of character?" I inquired curiously.

Phantom groaned, but answered clearly, "I didn't attack the mayor. That incident was staged by and adversary of mine named Walker. Walker is the warden of the Ghost Zone prison, and has a nasty habit of making rules up on the fly if you piss him off or he feels like exercising his authority. I had apparently broken one of his rules –I never did find out which– and he was less than pleased. In retaliation, he had overshadowed the Mayor and framed me with kidnapping him. For evidence to the truth, if you search for a video or picture of it happening, you'll notice that his eyes are red and not his natural eye color."

"Overshadowed?" I questioned, urging him to elaborate further.

"We, ghosts, use that word in place of 'possessed'," Phantom clarified.

"Hm, a less than pleasant experience, no doubt," I raised an eyebrow.

"You are very correct. When a ghost overshadows a human, the ghost pushes their consciousness aside; essentially stripping them of their freedom and taking their body for a joy ride," Phantom confirmed grimly.

I widened my eyes out of surprise, "That is… very startling."

"There's no need to worry; I hate doing it and it's unlikely to happen anytime soon, for any reason," he said firmly.

After a slightly awkward silence, I cleared my throat and asked, "On a different note; the stealing?"

"That was an even more unhappy time in my afterlife. A dark circus named 'Circus Gothica' had come to town, led by a man who called himself 'Freakshow'. Freakshow's circus didn't have any of the normal things you'd see in a circus. The acts were entirely comprised of ghosts. He held a staff with a crimson orb on top of it; that orb was what was controlling the ghosts, and I was no exception. I fell under the spell of the orb before I could put any of my mental walls up," Phantom confessed solemnly, a scowl on his face.

He continued after sighing breathily, "Freakshow was a very sadistic and greedy man; he'd make me steal the expensive jewels and priceless gems from the museums and jewelry stores, then order me to stay in the buildings until authorities arrived. The cops, seeing me with stolen items and other things, immediately distrusted me and my hard work pretty much went down the toilet along with my self-esteem."

After pausing and letting me absorb the information, he continued again, "After having me sack every building with anything worth any significant amount of money, he got cocky. He let his control slip, thinking that my will was broken. In that time, I was able to lead the police to a storage car on the train that he used to move his circus; all the items he had me smuggle were on that train. The cops knew the logo of his circus and confronted him the next morning and left his staff in his sleeping quarters. I broke the orb while he dealt with the authorities; completely obliterating the thing so he couldn't ever use it again. The cops arrested him and I haven't seen him since."

"Hmm, all in all, quite a day?" I questioned lightly.

"Yes, a less that pleasing one. Now, I believe you wanted to see my collection of information on the Kira case?" he suggested in a question.

"Yes, let's see how much insight it can bring this investigation," I agreed jovially.

* * *

A/N!~ Alright! Thanks for the support over these last months is in order!

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Reviews!~

Sina Xiel: Haha, yes! Danny can never resist when the opportunity presents itself!

Guest: There he is! Here's the next chapter too!

Zerephel: It's because we want to drag you back; we want people to came back and read it over and over again. This chapter is finally here! Hope you like it!

SilverWolf01: Yes, the kind, knowing librarian is Mrs. Dodds! Danny is a son of Hades, though that is a story for later.

Fantomu Tenshi: Thank you! Here's the latest chapter! I hope it pleases you! *gets smothered in L plushies* Agh!

Faranoy: Yes it will, however, not all is as it will appear to be. I'm just going to say that things will not end happily. There's a reason I named the story what I did. Thank you!

Gigabyte2598: Here it is! Hope you like this chapter as much as you do the rest!


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